Station XII - Jesus dies upon the cross

This exhibition, located in the "Rotating Exhibits" area at the Gallery in the Sun, features 15 original oil paintings depicting the Stations of the Cross.  The series, painted in 1964, shows the stopping places of Christ in his journey to Calvary.  Painting the series proved to be a very moving experience for DeGrazia.  He became so absorbed in his work that nothing could interrupt him.  He later commented that he never before had been so caught up in his work as he was when he painted "The Way of the Cross."

After DeGrazia completed the series, he sought an appropriate place for the collection.  A friend turned him on to the St. Thomas More Chapel (also referred to as the Newman Center ) on the campus of the University of Arizona.  The Chapel, which serves Catholic students at the university, felt that having a depiction of the Stations of the Cross would be a powerful source of spirituality for the students.  After displaying the paintings for only seven weeks, insurance and environmental concerns forced the Chapel to return the originals to the artist and replace them with a set of reproductions.  In the years since then it has become a tradition for the Gallery in the Sun to display the original series of oil paintings during the Lenten Season.